Mountain Bike Oregon

There’s been alot of talk and high-fiving around the Mountain Bike Oregon weekends and I have to say, I don’t get it yet. I mean, I have heard that it’s fun and the trails are great but there are great trails in alot of places. It could be the wonderful event planning skills of the …

There’s been alot of talk and high-fiving around the Mountain Bike Oregon weekends and I have to say, I don’t get it yet. I mean, I have heard that it’s fun and the trails are great but there are great trails in alot of places. It could be the wonderful event planning skills of the organizers but I’ve read plenty of people who complain about how little you get for your $300 entry fee. Maybe it’s the “big” crowds (limited to around 300 riders for each of 2 weekend sessions). Nope, that can’t be it – the Fruita Fat Tire Festival attracts thousands.

Some of Mudhunny’s friends from Cali went out a couple years ago and they loved it and I suspect I know why: Californians aren’t used to remote, wild singletrack. Of course there are tons of great bike trails in CA but the ones most people have access to boast less than 10 miles of trail and are hemmed into county open spaces or state parks. To string together 20+ miles (let alone hundreds of miles) of singletrack is unheard of outside of spots like Tahoe. For Californians a trip to Oregon is like a trip to the country. Plus for Northern Californians it’s a much easier drive than Utah or Colorado.

My impression is that Mountain Bike Oregon is more convenient than it is “epic,” but of course I could be completely wrong. East-coasters always have a way of misunderstanding the west 😉